Telangana govt launches accelerator for culinary ventures to promote cultural tourism

Gopi with Jhansi, a Telugu TV anchor, at the August Fest 2025

There are several local food brands in tier-2 and tier-3 cities that fail to expand beyond their towns and capitalise on their brand. With that in mind, the Government of Telangana has joined hands with The Culinary Lounge to launch a Culinary and Experiential Tourism Accelerator, aimed at tapping into the $1-trillion global culinary tourism market.

“Countries like Thailand, Peru, South Korea, and Vietnam have successfully made culinary tourism part of their national policy, generating huge revenues and providing financial support to rural economies,” Gopi Byluppala, the Founder-CEO of The Culinary Lounge told businessline after signing the agreement with the Telangana Government at the August Fest 2025 held here on Saturday.

“Telangana can be a case study for India on how to capture the culinary tourism market. Even if we are able to capture 1 per cent of the opportunity, it will earn us ₹8,000 crore,” he said.

The accelerator is looking at selecting 10 start-ups every six months to groom them, providing them with the support to fine-tune their products, building narratives around the food products, and offering them go-to-market services.

“We have decided to select the ventures in the Tier II and III cities that are already generating revenue,” he said.

Telangana snacks

Citing the example of popular Telangana snacks such as ‘Sarva Pindi’, he said that it was not just mere food that they ate, but something they forgot. “It’s history, economy and culture,” he said. 

The Telangana Innovation Cell (TGIC) and Network of Indian Cultural Enterprises (NICE) would also support the initiative.

“This is about reimagining food not just as culture or commerce, but as critical innovation infrastructure, with both social and economic impact.”, said Gopi.

Published on August 10, 2025

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